Clint Frazier, Yankees Prospects Lived in Funeral Home Apartment While in Minors

Supernatural forces are nothing new in baseball. From the Curse of the Bambino to the Curse of the Billy Goat to not talking about no-hitters as they happen, superstition and belief that extend beyond the logical are parts of the game.

That apparently extends to the hope that sleeping at a funeral home will turn around a slump.

New York Yankees left fielder Clint Frazier revealed in a story by Seth Berkman of the New York Times that he thought living in an apartment above a funeral parlor would help him break out of a slump he was stuck in during the 2016 season when he was on the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

It didn't, and he quickly moved out after he heard the sounds of a funeral service downstairs.

"That's when I was like, 'I've got to get out of this place,'" Frazier said. "It's nice on the inside, but it's a very eerie feeling. I could hear the stuff going on in the basement. That's not cool, man. I would never in a million years go back."

Berkman detailed the residence that many in the Yankees' minor league system have lived in while playing in Pennsylvania. The family of Bob Gillette, who owns the home in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, has operated the Ferri & Gillette Funeral Services for 78 years.

Gillette turned the space in the building's top floor into two apartments when his grandmother died approximately eight years ago, and he now rents it out to players.

"I've seen people getting wheeled in and out a few times, which was a little—different," Yankees relief pitcher Chad Green said about his living quarters in 2017. "The place was nice. As soon as you got over the fact you're staying in a funeral home, it was fine."

Berkman stressed that many players find the accommodations suitable, especially compared to other options at the minor league level.

If nothing else, it gives the players memorable chapters in their lives to reflect on once they reach the major leagues.

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